By David Agba
Abuja
Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) has said that the recent call by the former Director General of the Nigerian Stock Exchange, Ndi Okereke- Onyiuke to merge the NDIC with Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) as their mandates were similar was an indication that she does not know the roles of the NDIC in the financial system
Dr Okereke-Onwyuike who made the called in her speech at book launch for the federal government to merge NDIC and AMCON also alleged that the NDIC relied on government subvention for its operational activities but lacked the capacity and efficiency to execute its mandate.
Reacting to Okereke-Onyiuke’s speech, the management of NDIC in a statement said that the remarks were a glaring indication that the Ex-DG NSE clearly lacked adequate understanding of the roles of the NDIC in the Nigerian financial system, which had been widely acknowledged over the last 27 years.
It said the NDIC was established in 1988 and commenced operations in 1989 to administer Deposit Insurance System (DIS) in Nigeria. The objectives of NDIC include Protection of Depositors, particularly small savers by providing an orderly means of reimbursement in the event of failure of an insured banking institution. The core mandates of NDIC include Deposit Guarantee, Bank Supervision, Failure Resolution and Bank Liquidation.
Highlighting its mandates, it said “the Corporation also conducts supervision of the insured licenced banks in collaboration with the CBN to ascertain their financial conditions for the purpose of safeguarding depositors and contributing to financial system stability in the country.”
“The failure resolution mandate of the Corporation allows it to extend Technical and Financial Assistance to eligible banks, assist in Purchase and Assumption (P&A) transactions, Deposit Transfer, Merger and Acquisition (M&A), Bridge Bank as done in 2011 in collaboration with the CBN to prevent monumental banking crisis in Nigeria and outright liquidation of failed institutions. It is also worth mentioning that through the bridge bank initiative, over three (3) million depositors and 6,600 jobs were saved.”
